AHL: Subtracting players in overtime would be huge addition

Wednesday

Dec 4, 2013 at 10:24 PMDec 4, 2013 at 10:37 PM

Bill Ballou AHL

It's time to tear some pages out of the notebook, and these items need to be filed:

•In the ongoing discussion about how to deal with overtime and the shootout, the best suggestion is one that Roy Boe first brought up when he brought the IceCats to Worcester in 1994. That's the gradual OT, which can start five-on-five and work down through four-on-four, three-on-three, two-on-two, etc.

In order to prevent 10-minute overtimes, which the AHL actually had 40 or so years ago, you'd probably start with the four-on-four. And yes, it should go all the way down to one-on-one, plus goalies. Now that kind of matchup — let's say Sidney Crosby vs. Patrick Kane — would get fans excited a lot more than a shootout.

•Conventional wisdom is that it is hard to stock two really good teams — one in the National Hockey League and one in the AHL. While that may be true, it is not impossible, and the Sharks should not be content to just accept that notion.

For instance, the Kings have been good at the NHL level for several seasons. They've made the playoffs for four straight years and won the Stanley Cup once in that time. Los Angeles' Manchester farm team has missed the playoffs only once in its history and again is one of the AHL's best teams.

The same goes for Wilkes-Barre. The NHL Penguins have made the Stanley Cup playoffs for seven straight years, and Wilkes-Barre has made the Calder Cup playoffs for 11 consecutive seasons. That's going on 12, since the Penguins are good again.

Last year, the Boston Bruins made it to the Stanley Cup Finals while Providence went 50-21-5. Last year, the Red Wings were good again in the NHL, and Grand Rapids won the Calder Cup.

Those are the exceptions, but exceptional is supposed to be the goal.

•The discussion about overtime is being overshadowed by the discussion about fighting, especially since the NHL has been served with a lawsuit about head injuries. Pro hockey might be just as popular without fighting as it is with fighting allowed, but every time the Sharks auction off jerseys, Jimmy Bonneau's brings the most money.

The lawsuit is being abbreviated to Leeman vs. the NHL, former IceCat Gary Leeman being one of the most recognizable names, but Leeman was not a fighter. He never had more than 66 penalty minutes in a season and averaged less than 1 PIM per game for his 667-game NHL career.

On this date...

The Sharks exploded for three goals in the first period and went on to beat the Portland Pirates, 6-4, at the DCU Center on Dec. 5, 2010. Cam MacIntyre and Nick Schaus scored their first goals of the season in the victory, while defenseman Sean Sullivan had his seventh. Kevin Henderson, Steven Zalewski and T.J. Trevelyan also scored for Worcester.

The Sharks led at one point in the third, 6-1, then the Pirates scored three times in seven minutes to close the gap. Al Stalock got the win in net with 26 saves.

Awards time...

Ben Street of Abbotsford is Player of the Month. He went 11-8-19 in 15 games and notched 12 points in a five-game stretch at one point in the month. Bridgeport's Ryan Strome is Rookie of the Month and Player of the Week. Strome was 5-10-15 for the Sound Tigers in November, five of those points coming in Bridgeport's 7-1 victory on Nov. 1 at the DCU. Last week, Strome was 3-3-6 and plus-4 in three games.

Springfield veteran Mike McKenna is Goaltender of the Month. He was 4-1-0 with a 1.16 goals against average, .950 saves percentage and 2 shutouts and just got called up to Columbus. If it seems like McKenna has been around a long time, that's because he has. McKenna has been in the AHL longer than the Sharks, making his debut in 2005-06.

The Falcons are his ninth AHL team, and he has played for six opponents against Worcester. You've got to like someone who has played for two Admirals — Norfolk and Milwaukee — and three Devils — Lowell, Albany and New Jersey.

Blame the lights

There were a couple of scoring changes from the Sharks' 3-1 victory in Lewiston last week, one giving Rob Davison a second assist. It would be easy to scold the official scorers for not paying attention, but it is so dark in the Androscoggin Bank Colisee that it's hard to blame them. In fact, it's so dark there that you have to wonder if Muhammad Ali's "phantom punch" in his knockout of Sonny Liston there in 1965 really happened, but just could not be seen. … Worth noting — the Sharks are 5-2-0 when Bonneau is in the lineup. … Wouldn't it be fun if, just for one day, the AHL's two Andrews boys switched places. Dave could be a linesman for one game, not league president, and Joe could be league president, and not a linesman. … Trevor Hanson is a very good referee, in this opinion. … Happy anniversary, one day off, to my wife, Debbie. Our first date was on Dec. 4, 1970 — an AHL game in Providence. The Reds beat the Cleveland Barons, 6-5. We've both changed more than the AHL. Providence and Cleveland are still in the league, even if it is with different teams. … Only one American Hockey League team can say it was where the NHL's leading plus-minus player learned the pro game — the Worcester Sharks. That's Justin Braun topping the world's best league at plus-20. … The Hartford Wolf Pack is cold, winning just two of its last 10 games. Naturally, the Sharks are not on Hartford's schedule during this slump. The teams don't play until Dec. 28 in Hartford, at which point the Wolf Pack will probably have the AHL's best roster.

Sharks on mend

The Sharks are pretty healthy as they head into another three-in-three weekend. Even rookie Lane Scheidl, the only Worcester player on the long-term injured list, has begun practicing. His return is not imminent, though. Worcester plays host to Portland at 7 Friday night, then Providence comes to town. The weekend ends with a Sunday afternoon game in Manchester.

Worcester has been playing much, much better of late. The Sharks have won three in a row, and a victory on Friday night would not be a milestone, but certainly significant. They have not had a four-game winning streak in almost two full years, or since they won five straight — all on the road — from Dec. 9 to Dec. 17, 2011.

Since that streak, Worcester is 56-69-18.

Portland may have a couple of veterans, both former first-round draft picks, in the lineup on Friday night. The Pirates have Gilbert Brule under contract. He began the year on a PTO, then signed a two-way deal with the Coyotes after making plans to head to the KHL.

Defenseman Rostislav Klesla has been sent down by Phoenix, and if he is in the lineup, he will be making his AHL debut after 649 games in the NHL. Klesla is making about one day's worth of Christmas shopping less than $3 million.

Catching up with…

Zagreb Medvescak of Croatia, playing its first season in the KHL, is like Worcester East. Former Sharks captain Ryan Vesce is its second-leading scorer at 11-12-23, with Jonathan Cheechoo third on the team in points at 13-8-21. Short-time Sharks forward Andrew Murray is 2-1-3 in 33 games, and former IceCats sniper Mike Glumac is 1-0-1 in 22 games.

Kevin Henderson — a personal favorite with this columnist, in the spirit of full disclosure — who made his NHL debut with Nashville last season, is back with Milwaukee this year; and defenseman Mikael Tam is in Cleveland, skating for the Lake Erie Monsters.